Guest Post – Evolve MMA

It’s that time of the year.

For many, the holiday period is a time of indulgence; food, family, friends, and relaxation are hopefully all features of your holidays.

However, the beginning of a new year should also be a time of reflection and planning. After all, the calendar has conveniently broken down our lives into large chunks that we call years, and we should look at these years as opportunities to continuously improve ourselves, our lives, and the lives of those people around us.

Many people strive to achieve their goals by setting their New Year’s Resolutions. This strategy is fine when it works, but it fails more often than they succeed.

The reason is simple. Many people look at their desired outcomes, such as self-improvement, increased happiness, improved physical ability, and weight loss, however these ‘resolutions’ lack strategic planning and methodology.

To make a permanent impact, individuals need to change their behavior and form new and improved habits that replace the old and bad from before.

This is why starting BJJ should be your New Year’s Resolution for 2018.

In a way, BJJ acts as a ‘glue’ to help you stick to all of your desired goals in 2018. You might have four or five desired outcomes in the new year, which already makes it difficult to proceed. However, the simple task of beginning BJJ class can help you achieve many of these objectives through lifestyle changes.

If your resolution is to ‘stay fit and healthy’, Starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of the best ways to ‘stay fit and healthy’. The physical effort required in BJJ class will help develop your fitness and improve your physique. People who train BJJ notice dramatic improvements in their cardio and physical ability, but also become increasingly aware of the importance of a healthy body.

It’s for this reason that many who train BJJ naturally take on a healthier lifestyle.

If you start training BJJ and enjoy it in the same way that the many thousands of people around the world do, you will immediately start to consider lifestyle changes to improve your performance on the mat. In effect, these positive changes will flow through into your daily life, as well. It is likely you will experience renewed energy, confidence, and self-awareness just by beginning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

At the very core, it is a poor idea to begin a journey without a goal in mind.

For example, starting your car and trying to guess the best route to your destination might be fun, but it isn’t effective or efficient. Alternatively, researching and planning the best route before you turn the keys and start the engine will ensure you make it to the destination.

Knowing the destination isn’t good enough. You must also know how to get there.

To put this in perspective, the three most popular New Year’s Resolutions are:

Stay fit and healthy

Lose weight

Enjoy life to the fullest

Now, while all of these resolutions are incredibly important for the majority of people, they do not last.

Why?

Well, people sometimes plan to ‘stay fit and healthy’ by going for a run or buying a new treadmill. After a month or two, the treadmill is already collecting dust, and running becomes boring unless you are one of the select few who is passionate about it.

The people who planned to ‘lose weight’ might not have had an actionable plan to achieve their goal. In most cases, they might have eaten healthier food for a week or two before going back to old habits. Losing weight is an incredibly difficult task, not because of the actual tasks involved, but rather the discipline and motivation to continue to do so.

And those who were seeking to ‘enjoy life to the fullest’ may have just proceeded to react to many of life’s changing situations rather than proactively planning and strategically setting goals for the new year.

If your resolution is to simply ‘lose weight’, you might already understand why beginning a positive physical hobby is the best way to achieve this. As stated before, the simple act of buying a treadmill isn’t enough for someone to actually achieve their goals. It requires motivation and discipline.

By attending Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class multiple times per week, attendees will begin losing weight through their experience during class. However, again, the lifestyle changes that also begin with starting BJJ will help someone take positive actions outside of class, as well.

And if you are hoping to ‘enjoy life to the fullest’, then Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a fantastic way to achieve this.

BJJ opens up the door to a whole new world that was unimaginable before stepping foot onto the mats. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class is where you make lasting friendships, relieve all of your stresses, and simply forget everything that doesn’t matter.

A hard day at work? It will soon be forgotten when you enter the BJJ gym.

Bored, lonely, or suffering from lack of purpose? Stepping foot onto the mats will help you engage in a physical activity with a number of other people who are there to support you.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is magical and it should be your New Year’s Resolution for 2018.